-Monday lunchtime-
The lunchroom felt cold enough to liquefy nitrogen as Sunset entered and got in line. No one came near her – likely afraid she’d fireball them. It was clear no one understood just yet that she couldn’t. It made her wish she had an arctic parka. At least Granny Smith was supportive, chatting her up a little as they went down the lunch line.
Sighing with frustration, she headed towards an empty spot at the far side of the cafeteria. That was the plan, at least. She was learning, however, that no plan survives contact with Pinkie Pie. Somehow, Pinkie and Applejack ended up to either side of her, and steered her to their table instead. Pinkie Pie was, of course, a vibrating bundle of smiles and energy, while Applejack was a irresistible force. Not wanting to upset them, or give the hostile crowd a reason to act, she let herself be guided over to the table.
“Darling, you look miserable. Are you taking better care of yourself now?” Rarity, of all people, was fussing over her as she sat, while Rainbow Dash gave Sunset a lopsided grin and a shrug, as if to indicate that there was no rescue from Rarity’s attentions for the moment. “And whatever are you wearing? It’s almost like you’ve one set of clothes!” The very idea of such a travesty made the fashionista prepare for a good faint, arms up in shock. "And whatever happened to that daring little jacket you always wore?”
Sunset slumped over the table, “Well, it kinda has holes and burn marks in it, and the zipper's a little melted..."
“Wasn’t hard laundering her clothes, although I don’t know if even you can fix that jacket of hers, Rarity.” Applejack paused and downed a healthy swallow of juice before continuing. “But *somebody* wouldn’t let anyone go to her place to get her clean clothes. It’s almost like we weren’t trustworthy.”
That was the most Applejack had said since her reaction to the changes she had opposed earlier in the week. Somehow, Sunset’s business models were far closer to those used by Marmalade Orange than expected, and that had set Applejack off somehow. Big Mac said she didn’t like to admit being wrong. Since then, Applejack had begun giving Sunset curt, monosyllabic answers in a way that reminded Sunset of Big Mac. Not for the first time, she wondered if an angry Big Mac would chew someone’s ear off. Hopefully, she’d never see that.
“Applejack, I’m gonna tell all of you something. Maybe it’ll go a bit further towards building some trust. But not right now. In fact, I’ll do better than tell - I’ll show you all where I was living - right after class. It won’t take long.”
“It better not – I have to be on the field 20 minutes after class,” piped up Rainbow. “How else can I get the rookie players to see how awesome I want to be?”
“Wait, it’s that close?” Applejack finally broke out of her dark mood, at least enough to ask Sunset an actual question. That was a relief.
“Yup, practically there already,” Sunset replied, before polishing off her salad. “Practically there. Just meet me in the foyer after your last class.” It was technically correct, and that was the best kind of correct. Applejack wasn't looking completely convinced, however.
The bell rang, saving Sunset from explaining things further.
The afternoon serving of cold shoulder with a side of insults was almost a relief from the personal questions at lunch. She had class with Applejack, who was giving her an odd look through class. It was strange, but at least she wasn’t as hostile. Trust was something Sunset was learning was as important as friendship – and as hard to deal with sometimes. Soon enough, though, classes ended, and Sunset waited in the foyer for the other girls. As they arrived, she could tell they all had questions – but she just motioned for them to follow her.
“Why are we going back inside?” Rainbow was the first one to ask, already at the limit of her patience. From the exchanged looks and comments from the other girls, Sunset knew the rest agreed with the athlete.
“Fastest way, Rainbow,” the redhead replied, going into the library and heading for the upper level. “Again, it’s about trust. I need to be honest with you. You all know I came through the portal – I was lucky to have clothes on. No money, no paperwork, no magic, struggling with a body I didn’t know how to use in a world I didn't understand.” She passed the last row of books, and reached a door that had a “caution – construction” sign on it. “I arrived at night, and the school building looked like some minor government office. I thought I might be able to find shelter and information, at least.”
Sunset opened the door to what looked like a storage room of some sort. “And so, I didn’t tell any of you about this place, because I was ashamed. I mean, Princess and undisputed ruler of all Canterlot… High,” Sunset gestured halfheartedly at the room, “was sleeping in the library and stealing services from the school.”
The room was small, and the girls at first saw only a stack of crates that blocked the doorway. Sunset then pushed the leftmost stack, which slid smoothly back twice its width, allowing single file entrance to the neat, organized space behind it. Several more of the crates had been set up along the right hand wall, covered in a set of old, fold-up gym mats. White school towels had been secured together with staples and tape into serviceable blankets, while one of the school’s spare computers, a desk and chair took up the far wall. Sunset reached up and tripped a light switch, throwing the room into much greater detail.
Glaringly, there was no sign of personalization or other effort, nothing to identify who was using this space – at least not obviously. Turning back around, Sunset gathered a handful of things from one of the storage crates – a school gym bag with athletic clothing, sports towel, and toiletries in it. This went in a larger bag that had clothing and a handful of books in it. This included her old jacket, which lead to Rarity fainting on the gym mat briefly upon sight of it. Only Sunset seemed surprised by this reaction.
Still, she recovered quickly, and carefully moved Sunset's battered jacket into her own bag, wincing. "No guarantees, darling... this is worse than I remember."
"Yeah, well, last time I wore it, I was tromping blindly through the woods in the dark. It made things worse."
"That’s not a library computer,” Sunset picked up where she left off, taking a seat at the computer desk. “I don’t know why or how, but that computer is linked to the administrative systems instead of the limited system they allow the students to use. This is how I got all your information, and that of dozens of other students. I had access to all the school records.” She started the computer, entering in her password quickly. “Now, this is part of what I didn’t want anyone to find before I could come up here. I really could have ruined the school.” She deleted several file folders, then ran a low level format on the machine.
“You mean you’ve been living like this for how long? 30 moons is what, 2 and a half years...” Applejack canted her hat back, while the other girls could only look about in shock. “You were ashamed you’d managed something like this? After the other stuff you’ve done, this actually makes a lot of sense. No offense...”
"None taken."
“But this is so awesome!” Rainbow Dash gushed, checking the walls and other crates as if there might be even more hidden spaces. “It’s like something out of a spy movie. Sunset Shimmer, Secret Agent! Wait a sec! Are you a SPY?”
“Um, I don't think she's a spy... How did you do all this? Um, that is, if you don't mind...”
Sunset sighed. ‘Well, first, I moved the construction sign onto the door…
The second day at school was the worst. The previous day, Sunset saw fear and shock, surprise. Now, however, the fear was being replaced by something else. Sunset knew it was coming, of course. She was a girl genius, after all. As the fear that kept people in check receded, anger rapidly began to boil up.
People began to push their boundaries with her Tuesday morning, though. Whispers and dirty glares began to replace the fearful avoidance and frosty silence that had plagued her first day back at school. The groups and cliques she had manipulated for years were mixing and mingling, and at least there was the buzz of conversation around her.
Just not within about ten feet of her. It was like she’d cast a silence spell, the only noise being the click of her boots on the tile floor. As she’d walk down the hallway to class, one or more students in a given group would see her coming and just stop talking. Gazes would all turn towards her, then as a group, they’d pointedly ignore her, even if she tried friendly gestures. No one responded to her, but the conversation restarted as she walked away. Getting within conversation distance hadn’t worked either – people would pointedly walk away from her. Sunset’s methods of isolation and bullying worked against her, as no one would deal with her one on one. There was still an undercurrent of fear, but this time the students were relying on their repaired friendships and gave her no openings to exploit.
By lunch, not even Taco Tuesday could cheer Sunset up. The silences had rapidly been replaced by muttering, which was gradually becoming far more negative over time. Sure enough, insults had actually been shouted in the pre-lunch crowd. She had no idea who was shouting, just that it was her name, a declarative of equality with, and something offensive.
The old Sunset would have already made a dozen plans to destroy the offender, but the new Sunset wanted to avoid that dark place. She grit her teeth and kept on walking, not giving the shouter the benefit of having her turn and look for them. At least she had a place to sit where the glares were not as harsh. And at least most of the people wouldn't shout at her.
Sunset joined Applejack in the line, and tried to pick up their conversation from earlier that morning. However, the farm girl was having none of it.
“No, you can’t move back here. Even if you did use your fancy computer skills to erase all your blackmail you had up there, there’s no way you need to be near a computer that has access like that. You’ll sign on at the farm, and I’ll use the profits from your fancy mathematics to cover your room and board, although you’ll be expected to pitch in with a fair share of the chores. It’s honest work, rather than living like a parasite off the school’s resources. And I already know you understand hard work.”
“At least you’re not mad at me anymore, I hope. I much prefer you talking this way. When you’re mad, you sound like your brother, all one-word answers.” She managed a small smile, “Good to actually hear your voice.”
“Hrm, you don’t say. I’ll remember that, in case you get out of line again.” Green eyes blinked as sunset headed for their usual table, counting down from five. “Waitasec, I don’t sound like Big Mac at all!”
Sunset laughed for the first time in what felt like years. Canterlot High could bring its worst.
What could possibly go wrong?